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Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstilitskin is fairy tale that can be traced back to be penned by Francois Rabelais and published between 1575-1590 in Germany. The tale is more famously known to be collected by the Brothers Grimm as part of their book Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales). Plot To gain respect by others, a poor miller's father told that she could spin gold out of straw (some versions state it was just a misconstrued compliment of how her blonde hair appears like gold as sunshine hits it). The king learns about this rumour, and calls for the girl to meet him in his castle: When she arrives, she is thrown into a tower room stuffed full with straw and a spinning wheel, and is ordered to spin all the straw into gold by morning, or he will cut her head off (or imprison her forever in some versions). Unfortunately, the girl is unable to do such a thing, and begins to weep. Suddenly, an imp-like creature appears in the room and offers to spin the straw into gold for her in return for her necklace, and she agrees. The next morning, the king throws her into a larger room with even more straw, and orders her to repeat the feat, otherwise she will suffer. The creature offers to help her again in return for her ring this time. The king continues to demand for more gold, and the imp continues to assist her. After many imprisonments, the Kings locks her in her last room, and told that if she completes her duties, she will marry the King. With no possessions remaining to trade with the imp, he asks her to give him her first-born with the King. After considerations such as they may never be happily married, she agrees. The girl and the King were married, and soon they had their first-born. The imp appeared to the now-queen, and asked for her child. She offered up all her wealth so that she could keep her baby, but instead the imp compromised with a game: if she can guess his name within three days, she may keep her child. Her attempts all fail on the first two days, but on the last, she comes across the cottage he lives in, and heard the lyrics to his chant as he danced around the fire: "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll go to the king's house, nobody knows my name, I'm Rumpelstiltskin" With his careless reveal, she was able to save her child. Rumpelstiltskin became furious, and "ran away angrily, and never came back" in the 1812 Brothers Grimm edition but is said to "drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands and tore himself in two" in the 1857 revised edition. Other versions say this caused him to create a chasm to which he fell into, and many oral versions say he flew out the window and into a cooking ladle. Category:Brothers Grimm